Cheap refurbished laptops?

[BrianI]

Looks like my old Samsung NC10 is on it's last legs, as I need to waggle the screen to make the picture appear on the monitor....

Anyway, I'm thinking of getting myself a cheap refurbished laptop, mainly for holiday use (I have a week on Skye coming up soon!) for storing & organizing photos from each days shoot.

Would something like this do?  Dell Vostro 1015 Laptop | Core 2 Duo T6570 2GB 160GB HDD Wi-Fi 15.6" Screen. I've seen these online, refurbished with no OS (I'd be sticking ubuntu on it) for £120

https://www.itcsales.co.uk/acatalog/Dell-Vostro-1015-Laptop---Core-2-Duo-T6570-2GB-160GB-HDD-Wi-Fi-15-6--Screen--10766.html#SID=187

Thoughts?
 

[Kim]

2GB of RAM is going to be the limiting factor there (though somewhat less with a leanish Linux than it would be with modern Windows).  Fortunately it's upgradeable to slightly more reasonable 4GB.

[Sergeant Pluck]

It would be quite a large lump to cart about on holiday. Also: 90 day warranty.

I have bought from this company a couple of times - always very good service - and they have a small selection of refurbs:

https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/laptops-home-office/refurbished-laptops

The one at the top looks not bad, although it is on pre-order. Price includes VAT and it already has adequate RAM and storage for photos.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/125-dell-latitude-e6220-dual-core-core-i5-2520m-cpu-4gb-ram-250gb-hdd-windows-7-pro-12-month-warrant

12.5” Dell Latitude E6220, Dual Core Core i5-2520M CPU, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Windows 7 Pro *12 Month Warranty*

Their refurb stock turns over fairly quickly so might be worth an ask?

[BrianI]

Perhaps something like this Lenovo ThinkPad 14" 1600x900 T420s i5-2520M 128GB SSD Grade B MARKED LID http://www.tier1online.com/t1-00031-0000026930/lenovo-thinkpad-14-1600x900-t420s-i5-2520m-128gb-ssd-grade-b-marked-lid for £150 including 1 year warranty?

Now, I'm actually thinking that having a machine with, heaven forbid  Windows installed would actually be a handy thing to have, for the likes of doing things which can only be done on windows (e.g. update satnav maps etc)

[CAMRAMan]

Morgan Computers have some smallish machines here: http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/c/686/10-to-14-1-Screens/

My laptop is a dual-boot one with Windows 7 (which I use only rarely for the type of task you mentioned) & Ubuntu 14.04LTS. Not only does it boot up much faster on Ubuntu, it is also quicker.

[BrianI]

Morgan Computers have some smallish machines here: http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/c/686/10-to-14-1-Screens/

My laptop is a dual-boot one with Windows 7 (which I use only rarely for the type of task you mentioned) & Ubuntu 14.04LTS. Not only does it boot up much faster on Ubuntu, it is also quicker.

Quite a few decent priced machines on that Morgan Computers site.  I mainly use my desktop machine at home, so the laptop will just be for occasional use.  So I don't really want to spend too much money

[Afasoas]

Just picked up an A1 condition Lenovo T430 (i5-3220M, 4GB RAM) for just £100 using that popular boot sale app. It was listed for a bit more - I've bought it for a relative but quite honestly I'm tempted to keep it.

Business grade laptops like this are generally upgradable (should be fairly easy to switch out the hard disk for an SSD and add an extra 4GB RAM, watching youtube videos if uninitiated) and sturdily built.
Obviously go and see it first, ensure that the charger plugs in securely, hinges are well seated, case is uncracked etc. before handing over any cash.

[BrianI]

I'd rather buy online from a retailer than from an individual from an online auction site

[BrianI]

Well, I've just took a punt on one of these:

http://www.tier1online.com/1-wl558av-b/refurbished-hp-probook-6450b-i5-520m-grade-b-webcam-windows-7

14" display (probably best compromise for running photo management software on), 4Gb ram, 250gb hard drive.  12 month warranty, so should be ideal for my needs. Grade B condition.  But seems good laptop for the money.

The 250gb drive will mean plenty space for dual booting with Ubuntu!  -- edit -- I've selected the checkbox to upgrade the ram to 8gb.  Still showed a price of £155 including the 4gb ram upgrade and a £5 laptop bag...